ASTM A36 Carbon Steel vs. 7049A Aluminum
ASTM A36 carbon steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 7049A aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.
For each property being compared, the top bar is ASTM A36 carbon steel and the bottom bar is 7049A aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 71 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 22 | |
| 5.0 to 5.7 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 200 | |
| 180 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.32 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 27 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 300 | |
| 340 to 350 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 480 | |
| 580 to 590 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 290 | |
| 500 to 530 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 370 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 200 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 640 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 430 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 850 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 50 | |
| 130 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 11 | |
| 24 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 12 | |
| 40 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 14 | |
| 120 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
| 10 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 3.1 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 8.2 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 18 | |
| 150 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 44 | |
| 1100 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 92 | |
| 28 to 32 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 220 | |
| 1800 to 1990 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 44 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 17 | |
| 52 to 53 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 17 | |
| 50 to 51 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 50 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 16 | |
| 25 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 0 | |
| 84.6 to 89.5 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.26 | |
| 0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0.050 to 0.25 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 | |
| 1.2 to 1.9 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 99.25 to 100 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0 | |
| 2.1 to 3.1 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.4 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 | |
| 7.2 to 8.4 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |